I’ve talked to frustrated genealogists who couldn’t find a Website mentioned in magazine or back issue of a newsletter. As you know, Website addresses (URLs) can change at a minute’s notice. In some instances, site owners simply move their pages to a new host; in others, they may rename a page, or incorporate information into a new page. What’s a genealogist to do?
1. Ccheck out the “root” page of the site. For example, if you went to http://www.anygenealogypage.com/momscooking/applesaucecake.html and got a 404 error (this page isn’t there anymore), visit the main URL, i.e., http://www.anygenealogypage.com, and look for a link to recipes.
It’s possible the site owner reorganized the site, and the recipes are now in a subdirectory called recipes. If you can’t find a link from the home page, just e-mail the site owner and ask for the new page URL.
2. If you know the subject matter that was on the original page, go to your favorite search engine and try to track down its new location. For example, if the missing page contained a list of passengers who landed in Charleston, go to a search engine and type in the search phrase: ships +charleston +passenger or passenger +list +charleston. It’s possible you’ll find the original referenced page via the search engine approach.
3. For more help in finding missing Web pages, visit the Wayback Machine, an archive of 150 billion Web pages from 1996 to a few months ago.
You might also like:
- Blogging Your Family History
- National Archives of UK Immigration Research Guide
- Texas Marriage Records – a Free Resource
- Genealogy in Regional Museums
- Civil War Soldiers and Sailors Database
